Lawyer To Retire From City Position

Lawyer For City To Retire After Nearly 35 Years

June 12, 1992|By DAVE DRURY; Courant Staff Writer

A chapter in City Hall legal history draws to a close today.

Attorney Richard W. Shettle, a veteran troubleshooter and longtime legal adviser for the Hartford Civic Center, is retiring, ending a career that spanned almost 35 years in the corporation counsel's office.

Hired as a part-time assistant in 1958, Shettle, 63, became the office's first full-time assistant eight years later. He has served as acting corporation counsel and acting city manager, providing necessary stability during the periodic reshufflings in top administration.

Whatever his title, he emerged as a significant player in some of the major events in recent Hartford history.

He defended all claims -- "We never paid five cents," he said -- brought against the city from the October 1967 riots. As acting city manager, he guided a splintered city council through a difficult period of high unemployment and job actions by the police and fire departments in 1976. Two years later, he emerged as the point man in the legal maneuvering that followed from the January 1978 collapse of the Hartford Civic Center roof.

His leadership in the investigation of the collapse, and his skill in negotiating with the various claimants, are credited with preventing delays that could have stalled the center's reopening indefinitely. "The fact we built a larger coliseum and opened it in two years was in large part due to Dick Shettle," said Nicholas R. Carbone, deputy mayor at the time.

Since 1980, Shettle has continued to serve as the city's chief negotiator for the Civic Center. He will continue in that role for at least six more months under a special service contract authorized by the city council Monday. His unfinished task is to conclude negotiations on a new lease with the Hartford Whalers, a job city officials were loath to assign to anyone else.

"He's a great negotiator," said Gerard M. Peterson, executive director of the Hartford Civic Center and Coliseum Authority. "He's steadfast, but he has an open mind. He certainly does win his share because he's so well schooled and knows the issues in every sense."

Peterson said that a few years ago, he accompanied Shettle to

New York to negotiate with CBS Sports about televising the 1990 NCAA regionals in Hartford. "I don't know how many lawyers were at the table, but we only had one. ... It takes at least six CBS lawyers to equate one lawyer for the city of Hartford," he said.

Robert K. Killian Sr., former chairman of the authority, said, "He has brought vast experience, a lot of knowledge. I know that the city will miss him. The Civic Center will miss him."

Working on various Civic Center projects -- whether it was the 1984 settlement of claims from the roof collapse, reviewing the contracts of Frank Sinatra or Luciano Pavarotti or negotiating with a disgruntled vendor -- has been a pleasure, Shettle said.

"I've been fortunate to have that type of assignment," he said. "You can't have it any better than to enjoy coming to work every day. My 35 years -- it's like yesterday."

It was March 1958 when Shettle, then a claims adjuster for the Travelers Insurance Co., came to work as a part-time assistant corporation counsel for the city. Barely two years out of the University of Connecticut Law School, he was paid $124 a week. For a young lawyer eager to learn, it was the perfect opportunity, and remains so today.

"When I started, government was streets, roads, public works, parks and recreation, redevelopment in its early stages. Today government has gone long beyond that. It's economic development, mortgage lending, the Civic Center, show business ... There aren't many [private law] offices with as varied a practice. The only thing we don't do is criminal."

Former Mayor George A. Athanson, who graduated with Shettle in the Hartford Public High School Class of 1946, said his classmate has brought professionalism and constancy to the office. "You may not have agreed with him all the time, but he did what he felt was best for the city of Hartford and the people of Hartford," Athanson said.

"He could have been an excellent lawyer in private practice and probably made a lot more money."

An amiable man, Shettle is known for his sense of humor and his passion for UConn sports teams. He estimates he has served under 11 city managers and more than a dozen corporation counsels. He and the other senior deputy, Richard M. Cosgrove, who retired June 1 after 26 years, provided a storehouse of knowledge for less experienced staff members.

"It's unfortunate Dick and I are leaving at the same time," Shettle said. "We have very, very capable lawyers here. What you lose is what's in someone's head. Take Bushnell Park. A question will come up this year about Bushnell Park. A question will come up in five years about Bushnell Park. ... It's like any business, if you do something once or twice, all of a sudden you're an expert on it."

Shettle has spent his last weeks indexing hundreds of files on various legal topics that will make it easier for the staff to research a particular subject.

Councilman Anthony F. DiPentima said the corporation counsel's office lost two "giant sequoias" with the retirements of Shettle and Cosgrove. "It's always a loss when you've lost nearly 100 years of experience," he said.

DiPentima, also a lawyer, said he is confident that the remaining staff, which includes a number of lawyers with between 10 to 15 years of experience, will successfully weather the transition

under the leadership of new corporation counsel Pedro Segarra.

Shettle said he has no plans to retire from legal work. Or as he put it, "I'm not going to pack it in and catch butterflies in Nantucket harbor.